Pacing - The third area

Pacing is what keeps people reading a book. If the pace drags, the book can be put aside. I was sorting through my books the other day trying to decide which ones to keep and which ones to send to other lives. These are all novels. I picked up one and saw that I had only read about thirty pages. Thinking I had a new book to read, I sat down and began to read. The first three chapters that I'd read dragged and I knew I wasn't getting into the story by that time so that book went to another life.

Scenes are part of pacing. Each scene has a beginning, a middle and an end. There's one thing different for each scene must have an ending that draws the reader to turn the page and read the next scene. Again I'm using Becoming Your Own Critique Partner written by Jane Toombs and myself as the writing book for this session.

The pacing of individual scenes can vary depending on the writer's purpose for the scene. What purpose have you designed for the scene. Characterization, plot development, or for needed information. Choosing the length of sentences can either speed or slow the scene.

What kind of scene is needed. There are four. Mood or tone, action, reaction or genre. Mood or tone means things like mysterious, romantic, funny. Action scenes are ones like chases, fights, decision making as examples. Reaction scenes are often slower, use much internal dialogue and generally short. Genre - each genre has a definite style of pacing with a number of variations. A long and detailed love scene in the middle of an action adventure can throw the pacing off. This is just one example.

Writing Tip Pacing

Just what is pacing. I've thought about this a lot ever since a writer friend told others that my book Obsessions showed a mastery of pacing. Now this is a medical suspense so pacing was an interesting effort. Pacing has to do with the flow of a story. If you've ever read a book when you wanted the writer to speed up or to slow down, either condition is part of pacing.

Pacing can be tricky. When doing an acion scene, short sentences are better than long ones. Keeping the description tight can help a scene flow faster. One thing is not to keep up the rapid fire writing for too long or your reader amy be out of breath.

Long sentences full of phrases and clauses slow the pace. This gives a reader time to savor the story but continued for too long, this can make the reader want to fall asleep.

Pacing in ensemble stories can be useful. I do a lot of these and some that are essentially two view point characters. Even switching from one character to another can slow or speed up the pace according to the intent of a scene.

Pacing is also a devise that can pull a reader to turn the page. Ending on a note that causes curiosity can pull a reader to the next chapter.

My Writing Life

I'm gearing up for a trip to Pittsburgh and other environs. Husband's 50th medical school reunion. I do not like reunions and I do not like to be away from writing for an extended period, but one does what one must. I'll be taking along a new project and the last chapter of the novella due at the end of June. When I return I'll be adding two features to my blog. One will be interviews with published authors and another segments from my books. The final bit of the Plotting exercise will be put on there then. Then I'll talk a bit about pacing. A fellow author once mentioned one of my books on a forum I belong to and said I was a master of pacing. I had no idea what he meant. The book was Obsessions.